City and County of San FranciscoSan Francisco Arts Commission

Executive Committee - April 23, 2012 - Meeting Minutes

Executive Committee - April 23, 2012

MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
OF THE ARTS COMMISSION

Monday, April 23, 2012
3:00 p.m.
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70

Draft Minutes
 

In the absence of Commission President JD Beltran, Vice President Sherene Melania called the meeting to order at 3:06 p.m.

  1. Roll Call
    Commissioners Present
    Sherene Melania, Vice President
    Leo Chow
    Roberto Ordeñana
     
    Commissioners Absent
    JD Beltran, President
     
  2. Director’s Report
    Director of Cultural Affairs Tom DeCaigny reported that the Board of Supervisors passed legislation revising Section 429 of the Planning Code, which extends the area subject to a one-percent contribution from private developers for public art, and establishes the Public Art Trust to receive and then disburse those funds under the direction of the Arts Commission. He thanked Supervisor Chiu and Mayor Lee for their support, and Special Projects Director Jill Manton for her work in developing the Trust legislation.
     
    Mr. DeCaigny reported on the status of the strategic planning proposal, reviewing the goals and deliverables, and the timeline for selecting a consultant and completing the plan. The Committee discussed how previous plans would be addressed, and how the planning process would be incorporated into ongoing staff workload and responsibilities.
     
    Mr. DeCaigny reported on grants received, including National Endowment for the Arts funds in support of WritersCorps and the Central Market partnership, and funds from the Keith Haring Foundation for restoration of the Haring sculpture Three Dancing Figures at the Moscone Center. He also reported that ArtMarket has named ArtCare as the beneficiary of its auction, and the Fine Arts Fair will honor Cissie Swig with a lifetime achievement award on May 17 and donate the event’s proceeds to ArtCare.
     
    He reported that staff has begun work on the annual report, which will have a new, more streamlined format, with pull-out fact sheets highlighting each of the supervisorial districts.
     
    Mr. DeCaigny announced that the next meeting of the full Arts Commission will be held at the African American Arts and Culture Complex.
     
    Deputy Director Rebekah Krell reviewed the third-quarter financial report, comparing year-to-date figures with the budget. The Committee discussed the budget in detail, including the challenge of assumptions mandated by the Mayor’s Budget Office which disproportionately affect small departments like the Arts Commission. Mr. DeCaigny also pointed out that the current budget report addresses only General Fund and Hotel Tax Fund dollars, and excludes Public Art, which is funded separately by bond dollars; he added that these funds were separately, and carefully, audited. He explained that Arts Commission staff is working to capture all of the various funding sources and all of the corresponding expenditures in a new reporting format.
     
    Public Comment:
    Peter Warfield of Library Users Association expressed concern about notice of this meeting. He was glad to see the materials posted online and disappointed that some agenda items didn’t have materials posted.
     
     
    There was no further public comment.
     
    Vice President Melania pointed out that all of the Commission’s agendas are posted online.
     
  3. Street Artists Program 40th Anniversary Celebration
    Mr. DeCaigny and Street Artists Program Director Howard Lazar explained that the Street Artists Program was 40 years old this year, and there would be a celebration on Saturday, June 30 at Justin Herman Plaza. Mr. Lazar presented a tentative budget, and explained that the funds would not come from the Street Artists Program funds but from administrative funds. Mr. DeCaigny added that the Street Artists Committee had approved the budget, but the Executive Committee was being asked to approve the expenditure of the funds.
     
    The Committee discussed the proposal and was enthusiastic about the celebration. Mr. Lazar added that the Mayor was scheduled to speak at the event, and he invited Commisioners. He recalled that when he started working for the program at its inception, his boss suggested that the “hippie kids” would tire of the program in three months; 40 years later, he has licensed the children of some of those “hippie kids” as street artists.
     
    Public Comment:
    Mr. Warfield objected that the tentative budget was not in the binder of documents for the public.
     
     
    There was no further public comment.
     
    Mr. DeCaigny reiterated that the budget was not yet final, and this Committee was being asked to approve an amount estimated to cover all of the final expenses.
     
    Vice President Melania presented the following motion, which was approved unanimously as follows.
     
    Motion to approve expenditure of up to $12,000 from Administrative Fund to cover costs of celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Street Artists Program on June 30, 2012.
     
  4. Arts Commision Book Update
    Mr. DeCaigny asked book producer Leslie Jonath and researcher Brianna Smith to report on the status of the book on the Arts Commission’s history to be published by Heyday. They reported that the project is now more inclusive than it was originally conceived, with greater diversity and context, and it is moving forward smoothly, to publication early in 2013. The Committee discussed the timeline and ideas for related events. Mr. DeCaigny and the Committee praised the work of Ms. Jonath and Ms. Smith in managing the project.
     
    There was no public comment.
     
  5. Request for Advance Written Determination for Director of Cultural Affairs
    Mr. DeCaigny explained that he has served on the Board of Directors of the California Alliance for Arts Education (“CAAE”) for some years, and would like to continue to do so. He consulted with the the City Attorney’s office and confirmed that this did not pose a conflict of interest, and was requesting an advance written determination approving this role. He described the organization and explained that the Board responsibilities occupy about eight to ten hours a month, including a quarterly Board meeting.
     
    The Committee thought this was a natural fit, and complemented the work of the Arts Commission. The Committee discussed the time commitment with Mr. DeCaigny, who assured the Committee that the Arts Commission would always be his first priority and that the CAAE Board understood that.
     
    There was no public comment, and the motion was unanimously approved as follows.
     
    Motion to approve Advance Written Determination for Director of Cultural Affairs to serve on the Board of Directors for the California Alliance for Arts Education.
     
  6. Public Comment
    There was no further public comment.
     
  7. Old Business
    Mr. DeCaigny discussed the schedule for his six-month performance review. He explained that he would meet with Commission leadership to discuss his performance goals.
     
    There was no public comment.
     
  8. New Business
    There was no new business.
     
  9. Adjournment
    There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:12 p.m.

posted 12/1/14 spr

Language Accessibility

Translated written materials and interpretation services are available to you at no cost. For assistance, please notify Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

我們將為閣下提供免費的書面翻譯資料和口譯服務。如需協助，Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.

Materiales traducidos y servicios de interpretación están disponibles para usted de manera gratuita. Para asistencia, notifique a Commission Secretary Sharon Page Ritchie, 415-252-2591, sharon.page_ritchie@sfgov.org.